We returned on Tuesday night from a 6-day vacation trip to Croatia and Bosnia. (We even managed to squeeze in a quick visit to the country of Montenegro -- been there, got the passport stamp!) We've wanted to visit the Dalmation Coast of Croatia for years, and when our friend Don was invited to speak at a conference there we scheduled our trip to coincide with Don & Cathy's. The four of us had a great adventure!
Our trip began in the city of Dubrovnik, Croatia. Dubrovnik is an idyllic city perched on the southern tip of the Adriatic Sea's jagged coastline.
The old town, where we stayed, is surrounded by ancient stone walls built during the 9th century to protect it from invaders.
Inside the walls, the beautifully preserved (and in some cases, beautifully restored) city is comprised of baroque limestone buildings with red tiled roofs, set on polished stone streets where no cars are permitted.
We spent three days in Dubrovnik, touring the town and enjoying the great food -- lots of fresh seafood, pasta, and ice cream.
Did I mention the ice cream?
The visit was very relaxing. D even took time to stop and smell the roses.
There is an outdoor bar built on the rocks (no pun intended!) just outside of the city walls with a panoramic view of the sea -- a perfect place for a cocktail as the sun sets.
We enjoyed it so much we went back again the following night!
This was partially a business trip for Don, so there were times when he had to attend meetings, take phone calls, or even answer emails. Cathy found it easy to communicate with others using her
imaginary Blackberry as well.
On our last night in Dubrovnik, we climbed to the old fortress:
and then hiked the city's walls, which gave us great views of the old town. It was from atop the walls that you could still see signs of the destruction done to the city when it was pummeled with bombs in 1991 and 1992 during the civil war that tore apart the former Yugoslavia.
Today, to the casual observer walking around the town, it can be difficult to discern the damage. However, we toured an exhibit showing photos taken before and immediately after the shelling of Dubrovnik -- and the damage was incredible. Shells hit 68% of the 824 buildings in the Old Town, the paving stones of the streets were hit 314 times, and there were 111 hits on the city walls themselves. Many historic buildings were gutted by fires. However, once the conflict was over, the city was quickly repaired and reconstructed using traditional techniques and traditional materials whenever possible. Dubrovnik is whole and beautiful once again. We highly recommend it as a vacation destination! After three blissful days, we left Dubrovnik and drove north along the Dalmation Coast towards Bosnia. The drive was incredibly beautiful:
with a "Wow!" view around every bend. Although we had planned many stops throughout the day, the trip took even longer than expected because we kept stopping along the roadside to take photos.
We had lunch at a seaside seafood restaurant with the best grilled calamari I've ever eaten -- yum!
We made it to Bosnia then headed inland.
We stopped along the way at the ancient Radimlja necropolis, where there were 122 medieval tombstones carved by 13th-15th-century Slavic worshippers of the Bosnian Church. They were beautiful and so unique.
Our next stop was the ancient Turkish riverside town of Pocitelj.
The Ottoman Turks ruled in Bosnia from 1463 through 1878, and there is still a huge Turkish and Islamic influence throughout the country; 44% of the country's population is Muslim. We enjoyed the traditional Turkish architecture as we climbed up through the town...
higher and higher...
to get to the silo-shaped fort at the top of the hill above the town.
Once there, we were rewarded with a phenomenal view.
Inside, the fort had a feel of the American southwest; this view with the windows reminded us of a painting D's parents have of the interior of a Native American pueblo adobe home.
Hi D!
On our walk back down from the top of the fort,
we stopped to admire this art piece:
Pocitelj is a UNESCO world heritage site and is also home to the longest operating art colony in southeastern Europe. From there, our next stop was Blagaj, the source of the Buna River.
Here, we could see the river pouring out of a cave-like hole in the sheer rock face.
We had late afternoon drinks at a riverside cafe:
Cheers!
By early evening, we'd made it to our destination town of Mostar, Bosnia.
From the time of Columbus sailing the ocean blue, Mostar has been the administrative and trading center of Bosnia's Herzegovina region. The Ottoman Turkish-designed Old Town, including many mosques, was developed around a stone bridge over the Neretva River built in 1566.
Until 1993, the national symbol of Bosnia was the beloved Old Bridge in Mostar. However, during the Yugoslav civil war, Mostar became a divided city when the Bosnian Croats attacked the Muslims in Mostar. All the town's bridges across the river were destroyed by tank shelling, including the historic Old Bridge. The bridge was finally rebuilt, an exact replica of the old design, in 2004.
One of the most unique things we saw on the trip were the bridge divers in Mostar. Several young men would gather on the bridge and collect money from passers-by. Once enough was collected (around $40 US), one of the men would jump off the bridge into the cold (and not very deep!) Neretva River below.
It was fascinating and exciting to watch!
In Mostar, the scars of war are still very visible.
While there has been quite a bit of reconstruction since the war ended, some sites of nearly complete destruction can still be seen along the town's main boulevard. We found many places where reconstruction stood side-by-side with bomb-damaged buildings.
It was a dramatic contrast. We were all moved by what we saw, and D became very interested in learning more about the history of the conflict and the ethnic and regional divisions in the area.
Mostar is a small town, with few tourists. The pace of life there was slow, and we enjoyed two quiet days walking through the town,
sipping coffees,
people watching,
admiring the natural beauty of the river valley,
eating fantastic meals (mostly grilled meats -- and look at the size of those portions!)
and playing games on the patio at our lovely and historic hotel.
Don won
every single game we played, from Yahtzee to cards. Unbelieveable! Here he is doing a victory dance after yet another trouncing of his buddies.
After two nights in Mostar, we crossed back into Croatia and spent our final night in the seaside village of Mali Ston.
Mali Ston and it's sister village of Ston are known for two things -- fantastic fresh seafood and the 5.5km protective fortification wall (the longest in Europe). It looks like a mini version of the Great Wall of China.
We had lots of rain in Mali Ston, but it didn't stop us from exploring the town
and those steep walls!
On our final day of the trip, as a slight detour enroute to the airport, we crossed the southern border from Croatia into Montenegro.
It was interesting to see how quickly the mountains changed from rocky and craggy in Croatia to tree-covered in Montenegro.
Next trip, we'll have to explore the Montenegran coast; according to the airline magazine I read on the trip home, the World Travel and Tourism Council identified it as the fastest growing holiday destination in the world. Who knew??
As always, we had a wonderful time with Don & Cathy, and we are already busy scoping out destinations for our next trip together -- we can't wait!
We returned on Tuesday night from a 6-day vacation trip to Croatia and Bosnia. (We even managed to squeeze in a quick visit to the country of Montenegro -- been there, got the passport stamp!) We've wanted to visit the Dalmation Coast of Croatia for years, and when our friend Don was invited to speak at a conference there we scheduled our trip to coincide with Don & Cathy's. The four of us had a great adventure!
Our trip began in the city of Dubrovnik, Croatia. Dubrovnik is an idyllic city perched on the southern tip of the Adriatic Sea's jagged coastline.
The old town, where we stayed, is surrounded by ancient stone walls built during the 9th century to protect it from invaders. 
Inside the walls, the beautifully preserved (and in some cases, beautifully restored) city is comprised of baroque limestone buildings with red tiled roofs, set on polished stone streets where no cars are permitted.
We spent three days in Dubrovnik, touring the town and enjoying the great food -- lots of fresh seafood, pasta, and ice cream.
The visit was very relaxing. D even took time to stop and smell the roses.
There is an outdoor bar built on the rocks (no pun intended!) just outside of the city walls with a panoramic view of the sea -- a perfect place for a cocktail as the sun sets. 
This was partially a business trip for Don, so there were times when he had to attend meetings, take phone calls, or even answer emails. Cathy found it easy to communicate with others using her imaginary Blackberry as well.
On our last night in Dubrovnik, we climbed to the old fortress:
Today, to the casual observer walking around the town, it can be difficult to discern the damage. However, we toured an exhibit showing photos taken before and immediately after the shelling of Dubrovnik -- and the damage was incredible. Shells hit 68% of the 824 buildings in the Old Town, the paving stones of the streets were hit 314 times, and there were 111 hits on the city walls themselves. Many historic buildings were gutted by fires. However, once the conflict was over, the city was quickly repaired and reconstructed using traditional techniques and traditional materials whenever possible. Dubrovnik is whole and beautiful once again. We highly recommend it as a vacation destination! After three blissful days, we left Dubrovnik and drove north along the Dalmation Coast towards Bosnia. The drive was incredibly beautiful:
We had lunch at a seaside seafood restaurant with the best grilled calamari I've ever eaten -- yum!
higher and higher...
to get to the silo-shaped fort at the top of the hill above the town.
Once there, we were rewarded with a phenomenal view.
Inside, the fort had a feel of the American southwest; this view with the windows reminded us of a painting D's parents have of the interior of a Native American pueblo adobe home. 
On our walk back down from the top of the fort, 
By early evening, we'd made it to our destination town of Mostar, Bosnia. 
In Mostar, the scars of war are still very visible. 
Mostar is a small town, with few tourists. The pace of life there was slow, and we enjoyed two quiet days walking through the town, 
1 comments:
Wow...looks like an amazing vacation. Great pictures! It must have been kind of surreal being in such a beautiful place, but seeing the destruction from the war mingled within.
Can't wait to see you guys.
Jackie and Jason
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